According to the family of women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, the Saudi authorities offered her a bargain in exchange for her release.
The State Security Service recently visited my sister in prison and asked her to appear on a video to deny the torture and harassment she claimed to have suffered. assured his brother Walid al-Hathloul on Twitter. "It was part of an agreement to free her," he said.
Charges of torture and sexual harassment
Loujain al-Hathloul, known for his fight against the driving ban and the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, was arrested on May 15, 2018, just one month before the historic lifting of a measure banning women from driving. .
Aged 30, she is being prosecuted, along with a dozen other activists, for contacts with foreign media, diplomats and human rights organizations. Some, including Loujain al-Hathloul, claim to have been tortured and sexually harassed during their detention. An accusation that the authorities categorically denied.
According to her brother, the activist initially agreed to sign a document denying having been tortured as a condition for her release. He assures that the family did not intend to reveal this arrangement. But officials of the State Security visited him again in prison to ask for a video testimony this time, he explains. "To ask him to appear on a video and deny torture is not realistic," Walid said on Twitter.
His sister Lina al-Hathloul confirmed that Loujain is under pressure to deny the allegations of torture. "Whatever happens, I certify [one more]: Loujain was brutally tortured and sexually harassed," she said on Twitter.
With AFP